Darksided Futures
by Gegachxis
Summary: Hey! Chapter 6 here marks the end of this fanfic hope you all enjoy the completed work. Thanks! please R&R still!
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1  
Dart stood trying to figure out what was happening. He had gone to bed that night, he remembered lying down and going to sleep. but now he was here, where ever here was. The landscape was a monotone gray, completely flat, and stretched further than he could guess. Above him was the night sky, with the stars shinning more brightly than he had ever seen them on earth. Wait! He caught that thought; was he still on the earth?  
"No, you're not." Said a man's voice. It was a rich voice, one that had power, experience and age rolled into one tone. Dart spun, but his reaction was slow. He was wearing his armor! his deep red armor that hadn't been worn for ten years since his adventure as a dragoon. In his right hand was his sword, it felt comfortable, like it was meant to always be there, as if after ten years, his strength, and fighting skills hadn't diminished at all. There was one difference between the sword he held, and the sword he had placed in a chest, along with his armor; this sword was new, but an exact replica of his own.  
"We are not out in space as you thought, we are in a spirit world. and, no, you're not dead."  
Dart studied the man in front of him. Most of the stranger was covered in a black cloak with platinum colored trim. Powerful arms and legs protruded from the deep recesses of the cloak. In his right hand he held the exact same sword Dart held, but this one was old, and had stories of battle written up and down the edge. But what disturbed Dart was the fact that this man knew his thoughts, and his face was beneath the hood of the cloak, so Dart could see nothing of the stranger's countenance. "Ready yourself Dart." He said, pointing the tip of the sword in Dart's direction.  
"what?!"  
It was too late for questions. The cloaked man charged Dart with amazing speed. The strike came high, but was expertly aimed at Dart's head; he barely had time to raise his armored arm to block the blow. Dart tried to counter attack, but his challenger moved away, and out of the sword's reach. Battering Dart's sword at a wide angle, the cloaked man gave Dart a quick blow to the gut; although it was armored, Dart's hinged plate bent, and the blow drove the breath out of his lungs.  
"You are weak Dart. Have you become so slack in these ten years?"  
"Who are you?"  
The man stood back and relaxed his sword; with a quick brush of his arm, Dart's attacker removed his hood. Dart gasped. It was him.  
"I am you."  
"What?! That can't be! You're not me!"  
"You're right, I am Soa."  
"Soa? No, that's impossible!"  
"You're right, I am you."  
"Shut up! Stop this now!" Dart yelled at himself.  
Dart bolted up in bed. It was a dream, he thought to himself. He went to reach for a glass of water on his windowsill, but couldn't, his bicep racked and spasmed with pain. Dart looked at his arm, blood and puss oozed down it from the ripped calluses on his hand, and his whole body trembled with fatigue. Gently he touched his stomach with his good hand, pain, his abdomen was bruised. A glint of sliver in the moonlight caught his eye. On his windowsill was a new sword, but with fresh nicks taken out of the edge, and on the floor was his blood-red armor. It was all real. He turned to rouse Shana from her sleep. she was gone. Fear and panic griped his chest, and breathing became harder. A note had been placed next to him where Shana was usually by his side. Trembling, he picked up the note and lit a candle. It read:  
"Yes, it was all true, it all happened the way you remember it. And, yes I have taken Shana. She belongs to me twice as much as her to you. Remember, I am you, and I am Soa, and she is still my Moon Child."  
-Dart  
For a few long moments Dart sat with the short letter held up to the candle light. Then, almost out of impulse, he held the note to the flame and watched it burn. Silently, he went to the chest where he had lain his past live, and opened it. The sword and armor were missing, they were already out, but in a bundle of cloth, his the Divine Dragon spirit shone brightly. Dart clasped it in one hand, went over to the windowsill and grasped the sword that lay there. Then, without a word to anybody, walked out the door to rescue Shana. again. 


	2. The Impending Future

Authors note: Sorry guys, I forgot a disclaimer in my first chapter, and, well, I'm lazy, so I'm adding it here. The only thing in this story that is mine is the ideas and plots that are cooked up in my brain. Also, a big Thank You to "Aysen" who reviewed my first chapter the day it came out, but sorry, explaining the connection between Dart and Shana would take forever. Maybe I can work a flash-back into the story in future chapters though.  
  
Darksided Futures  
Chapter 2  
  
Dart knew where he was going, but he didn't like it. The Tree of Creation, where the moon fell to the earth ten years ago, seemed like the reasonable first place to look for an answer, but the memories of the battles there haunted his dreams, and the thought of going back there, where Shana was almost lost to him, made him sick to the stomach, like being overly homesick, but not quite. It was a ten week walk to the destination, and Dart didn't have the supplies to carry him there, so stops at every town were necessary. The first two weeks passed without incident. On the third week of his journey, Dart was leaving a small village when the feeling came, a dark abiding feeling, the feeling that a shadow with unsurpassed power was waiting for his death, to drag him into the abyss of hell.  
"The man in the black cloak." Dart thought to himself. Dart kept walking, letting his warrior's hyper-scene of an oncoming battle guide him. His footsteps quieted, his breathing became shallow and low, so he could hear oncoming footfall. Then it came, the sound of soft, but running feet. The fight was running towards him at a very high speed.  
"He doesn't know that I've noticed." Dart thought, "He's right handed, like me, and likes to swing high with lots of power. like me. If I turn to the left, I can catch his kidney with the sword, and use his momentum to drive it into him."  
The time to attack came.  
Dart readied his maneuver, swinging left, but, wait. The sword was in the left hand of his attacker! His strike was countered and parried, and a swift kick to the chest brought Dart to the ground on his back. Quickly he propped himself up to see his attacker. This wasn't the man who had attacked him and took Shana. This person had a feminine build; long slender legs, narrow wrists that had know the art of swordsmanship for a very long time, and a slim waist that brought out the curves of her hips. She threw aside the hood of her traveler's cloak.  
"R-Rose?" Dart stuttered  
"Don't act so surprised Dart!" the words spilled from her mouth like a venom, "You will pay for what you have done!"  
"Rose, what are you talking about!?"  
"Do not play stupid with me Dart! You killed them! You killed all of them! Kongle, Hashel, Miranda, Albert, and Meru. All dead by your hand! Where's Shana? Did you smother her in her sleep, Dart?" rage was etched on her face, an unchecked rage that leaked into hysteria.  
"W-what are you talking about Rose!? I haven't killed anybody!"  
Rose yelled a war cry at Dart and charged, her rapier poised to kill Dart where he knelt on his knees. A strange sensation came over Dart, a sensation that made him feel light, and made everything move slowly.  
"Is this what it's like to face death?" Dart thought  
"No" said his own, but not his own voice, "This is what it is to live. live Dart."  
Dart had no idea what was happening, he couldn't decide if he was being talked to, or just talking to himself, but everything seemed to briefly go black, as if he had closed his eyes to listen to a sweet song. A pressure on his arms took him out of the trance. He jerked his eyes open. Rose was before him, not charging to kill him, but impaled upon his sword, his arms stretched forth with the sword pointed strait, his sword had gone through her sternum. In a hysterical panic, he let go of the handle, and Rose fell to her knees, at eye level with Dart.  
"R-r-rose, I didn't."Dart stammered, but stopped as blood gushed from Rose's punctured lungs, and onto Dart. "Rose." he began to weep, and grasped her shoulders, hugging her body to his. "Rose. I..I." words could not come.  
Hours passed in this way before Dart began to dig a grave with his hands. He gently began lowering Rose's body into the pit when a glimmer of light caught his eye. On a necklace she wore was Rose's dragoon spirit. Carefully he removed it and held it to his heart. After filling the grave with dirt, and placing wildflowers on top of the mound, Dart went to place the dark dragoon spirit with his own divine dragoon spirit. He opened his pouch and dropped it. In it was five other dragoon spirits, all of them, blue, gold, green. they were all there.  
"No" Dart breathed as he backed away, "No. I did not. kill my friends."  
"Yes Dart, you did." Dart spun at the sound of the voice behind him. He himself stood there, in the black cloak with platinum trim.  
"You killed them." Dart said in a dark tone of voice, and the man before him said the exact same thing at the same time, in the same tone.  
"Now then Dart, all you must do now is kill me. and take my place as Soa." He said, and disappeared.  
Dart fell to the ground and began to weep again. 


	3. Begining to Understand

Chapter 3  
  
Dart walked down the long dirt road seeing nothing more of the man that looked identical to him. Three days ago he had killed one of his closest friends; Rose had died on his sword, cursing him with her dieing breath. In one hand, Dart held his sword, still stained dull red with Rose's blood; in the other, he carried the small bag which held the eight dragoon spirit gems. All of them but his own glowed fiercely, as if to announce to him that they were holding a grudge against him for having them in his possession.  
"I did not kill my friends." He said to himself. Memories of his friends came flowing into his mind. He missed them; he loved them, each and every one of them. And even though he had no real evidents that they were indeed dead, the very thought of it made him sick. Dart sank to his knees and held up the bag of gems, deeply hoping that he would see them though the dragoon spirits. As much as he was hoping for a glimpse of his friends, it shocked him to actually see them in the spirit gems. There they were! All of them sitting very comfortably in a space where each would find ideal. Albert sat on a large throne, a red carpet rolled out for him, and all the luxuries of kingship followed and waited on him. He was happy where he was. Kongle was walking among his own people again, talking with childhood friends up in the mountain range where his village had stood. Miranda was hiking on a forest path, enjoying being alone and surrounded by such beauty. Meru was dancing, surrounded by people and winglys who were listening intently to her stories of her adventures as a dragoon. Hashel was in a rocking chair, in a sea-side cabin, carefully holding his grown daughter in his arms and speaking to her of her life. Zeig, appeared in the red dragoon gem, he was wearing the red dragoon armor, reliving his greatest battles. By his side was Rose. She was smiling, happy to be with her lost lover. Everyone was happy. except. in Rose's dark dragoon spirit, a storm raged, a terrible display of raw power that threatened to destroy the orb which held it. Everyone but Rose was content with their station.  
"Are they all settled in?"  
Dart's trance with the dragoon spirits was broken. His mirror image stood before him. He poised his sword to attack.  
"Oh, no, this meeting is not one to check your fighting skills Dart, we did that already."  
Dart lowered his weapon. Something about how the man had said that was disarming enough. "Besides", Dart thought "he isn't wearing a sword, or even armor, what could he do to me?"  
"Have they all settled in?"  
Dart looked at the gems. "You. you killed my friends, didn't you." He stated without emotion in his countenance or voice. "That is why Rose thought it was me. Am I right?"  
"Yes."  
".Why?"  
"To exult you."  
". I don't understand."  
"You will, but Rose needs to calm down first. The others did quite quickly, but you know Rose, this may take a while."  
"Yes, it could." Dart said. He was smiling to himself now. In his mind was confusion. "Why am I acting this way?" he thought to himself. "Why do I feel as if this man were my best friend? Have I been enchanted?" An odd sense of calm swept through his spirit, it was refreshing, he hadn't felt this was in a very long time.  
"You get along with me so well because I am you, as you are me."  
"Stop that! That doesn't make any sense!" the contempt feeling was gone. The calming spell that was over Dart was broken. His duplicate was obviously displeased at this. A sword materialized in his hand, and he readied it at Dart's chest.  
"You broke my spell. I was going to make this easy on you, let you go peacefully, but I guess that's not going to happen now is it?"  
"Absolutely not. You killed my friends!" Dart yelled as he charged the man.  
"What. are. friends Dart? Just pawns. to be. used when. convenient." The man in the black cloak said between breaths and blows.  
"Friends are a persons life. what are. you. without friends?"  
"You are invincible."  
"No. I'll prove. you wrong on that point." Dart parried a strike, then countered, leaving a thin line of red liquid across the man's abdomen. His opponent quickly placed his hand over the wound, and it was healed, the man just grinned. Dart stood in a fixed awe for a moment, then said. "Humph, well, I guess in that case, I'll just have to take off your head!"  
"Try." The duplicate sneered back, and the entangle resumed. Until Dart had his opponent cornered. The aim was perfect, the timing was perfect, the momentum was perfect. everything was in order to take the man's head off of his shoulders. But it didn't. He had vanished mid-way though Dart's moon-strike. Dart glared at the spot that should have beheld a corpse.  
"I'll kill you. Sooner or later, I'll find you, and I'll kill you.  
  
****up in the heavens****  
  
"Is he ready?" Shana asked, placing a hand on Dart's duplicate's shoulder.  
"No." he replied though clenched teeth. "He hasn't learned to hate yet." 


	4. Upcoming Battles

Authors Note: A big thanks to Aysen, who has reviewed everything so far, and another thanks to NoRestForTheWicked for reviewing. Keep it up for me will ya?  
  
Chapter 4  
  
A week had passed sense Dart had fought with himself in the grove, and had killed Rose. The thoughts of Rose still haunted him, and her dragoon spirit was still restless. Every night as he lay down to sleep, Dart placed the dragoon spirits of his friends in front of him, to see how happy they were. Maybe he should join them in his own small sphere. No. He dismissed the thought immediately, Shana was still being held by that man who called himself Dart and Soa. That was the only thing that kept him going, Shana was the only reason he had to live now.  
That night Dart slept on a small hill in the woods, a couple of feet away from him was the desert he had to cross to get to the fallen moon. It was a two day walk, and Dart began to pack water from a nearby stream.  
In the morning he was off. It was hot, and thought the walking wasn't hard, it seemed to take forever for the day to end. The second day came, Dart had gotten very little sleep last night, and was tripping over his own feet with exhaustion. The moon seemed very far away, though Dart knew it was only a few hours walk. Mirages of water kept distracting him in all directions. Dart placed his hands to his eyes, trying to blot out the visions. But, now he saw dark shadows moving towards him. He dismissed them as tricks of the heat on his eyes. until they decided to step on him. Dart barely was able to roll away from the virage that tried to squish him under it's foot, two more decided to join the first in the attempt to kill him. Dart's senses were thrown into a full hyper-sense of battle, and he reached for his dragoon spirit. He felt his fist close over the familiar orb that hadn't been used in ten years and he raised it over his head to activate the power. The bliss of flight that the dragoon armor provided was welcomed. "Ha, three virages, simple odds." He said to himself. "Let us see how this goes. Divine Dragon Ball!" he yelled. but. nothing happened. "Wha. what happened!?" Dart asked to no one but himself. He raised his hands in frustration. "Wait" he thought to himself ". why am I holding a bow!?" Then it dawned on him and he looked down at his body. This wasn't his Divine Dragoon armor! This was Miranda's silver armor! "Oh, CRAP!" He looked up too late; a virage slammed its fist into Dart, knocking him out of the air. "I can't fight like this!" Desperately he drew an arrow from the quiver and let it loose from the bow. The small projectile whizzed harmlessly past a virage's head. Quickly he flew away from the virages; he had to get his own dragoon spirit! He landed and deactivated the Silver Dragoon Spirit. Rummaging around the bag, he saw his spirit near the bottom; he looked up to see the virages closing in fast. Grabbing a sphere he activated the power and hoped it was the right one. it wasn't. He was in red now. "Well, at least I know how to use the spells, and I have my sword back." He thought to himself.  
"Final Burst!" he cried. The spell was executed, and a virage was split down the middle, letting out an unearthly cry as it died. Dart posed his sword and all out attacked the second virage. Not all of his blows landed exactly where he wanted them, but they literally disarmed the virage. Dart turned to face the third virage, but was slightly too late, the virage deftly plucked Dart out of the air and thru him to the ground. Pain shot through his body and the wings from his armor snapped beneath the force of weight. Dart tried to pull himself together, but the virage didn't let up on its beating, its fist came down and drove Dart into the sand. Only the dragoon armor had saved him. The virage picked him from the ground and thru him as far as the creature could. Once again the dragoon armor preserved his life. Dart pulled his self composure and stood up, this was his chance. He deactivated the Red Dragoon Spirit and carefully picked his own out of his bag and put it to use. Now Dart had the unfair advantage, and the virage knew it. It started to fly back to the moon, presumably to bring reinforcements. Dart didn't give it a chance.  
"Divine Dragon Canon!" the spell activated and overtook the fleeing virage, leaving a charred object to fall lifelessly to the earth.  
The virages were dead, Dart was slightly bruised, but otherwise still in one piece, so with as much haste he could manage to prompt from his dragoon armor, he flew towards the settled moon. 


	5. Destiny

Authors note: thanks a lot to Aysen and NoRestForTheWicked for reviewing my fic! You two are great!  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Dart arrived at the fallen moon within the hour, and his dragoon energy was waning, so as he landed at the foot of the moon, he deactivated the dragoon spirit. The trail through the moon was the same as he remembered from ten years ago; it led through different parts of the world he lived in. As he reached the center of the moon he could feel almighty presents.  
"It's about time you showed up." Said Dart's look-a-like.  
"I had a few problems with you virages." Dart said in a grim tone.  
"If you had a problem fighting them, you just might die to my sword Dart." The cloaked figure said as he drew his sword from its scabbard at his side.  
"I will not die to you or any other until I have found Shana."  
"I'm sure. Draw your sword, and defend yourself true Dart."  
Dart let the cape he was wearing drop to the ground and let the tie to his sword fall. Just as Dart's sword came loose from its scabbard, the man in the cloak jumped at him. The swords made metallic music as thrust and parry were timed and executed. Neither of the two could find a weakness in the other's stance, and so the fighting continued, and slowly, Dart's opponent began to gain ground on him, and Dart began to give. Dart's copy then made a mistake, his eyes were glued to Dart, not the ground, and he stumbled on the cape Dart had dropped. His foot caught the cape and he fell forward. Dart didn't miss the chance, his sword now protruded from the man's back, a look of total shock was displayed on his face. Blood ran down the edge of the sword, and the thick red liquid gushed from the fighter's mouth, and onto Dart. In disgust, he put his foot against the man's chest and pushed him off of the blade. Clutching his belly where the sword had entered, the man began to laugh. He picked himself up and look at Dart.  
"Ha ha, hid you forget something Dart?" he asked, spreading his arms out to his sides "I am Soa!" he grabbed his sword and charged Dart again. Out of pure shock, Dart barely got his sword up to defend himself, and though he diverted the sword from piercing his chest, the opposing sword bit deep into his bicep. Then the cloaked man mad his second mistake. The blood on his hands made the sword slip in his grip and he lost control of it. For that, Dart cleanly removed his head from his shoulders. The head rolled, and stopped, looking at Dart with lifeless eyes. The body fell to its knees, and then slumped over forward.  
"Well, I never did worship you." Dart said to himself. 


	6. Finalle

Author's Note: thanks so much to NoRestForTheWicked and Aysen for all of your reviews you sent me, and I apologize for this fic in ending.  
  
P.S. sorry again for this chapter being so short, I'm tired.  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Dart panted with the physical exertion from the fight with himself/Soa. He leaned on his sword and watched the body to make sure it did not move. He didn't want to risk having to fight the god again. Though the corpse didn't stir, it began to give off a blueish aura. Dart couldn't go through another battle, but he readied his sword anyways. The blue mist crept towards Dart, but he was too tired to care or to move away from it. The misty aura surrounded Dart and seeped into his being and mind. He didn't fight the thoughts that rushed into his head. Now he understood.  
"I am Soa." He said aloud to no one other than the body that lay before him.  
"Yes, you are."  
"Shana!" Dart exclaimed as he turned towards her voice.  
"You killed Soa, and in doing so, became him, or gained his power and title anyways." She said. Gracefully, she walked over to Dart and gently placed a hand on his cheek. And with the other hand, placed the knife she held in his throat. Dart's eyes widened in surprise, and blood gushed from his mouth, and ran down Shana's chest. "And now I, I am the Soa." She said. Again, the blue aura surrounded the corpse and passed to the murderer. "Now, to take care of this stupid world."  
  
The End  
  
Author's Note: yes, yes, I know it was evil and short lived, but, hey, it was just an idea I needed to write down. Give me some review if ya liked it, I'll write a new one sometime! Thanks to all who read,  
-Gegachxis- 


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